Between a Rock and a Hard Place: God’S Holding Pattern

By Dr. Herldleen Russell

During a particular period in my life, I felt as if I was between the proverbial rock and hard place. It was as when the children of Israel in the book of Exodus on their journey to the Promised Land came to a place where Pharaohs army was behind and the Red Seas was in front. I could not go forward and had no plans to go backward, and the Red Sea would not open up to go forward. The frustration of being in that place was terrible, and I was at my wits end.

Just as an airplane arriving at its destination and preparing to land is told that it will not be able to do so because of some unforeseen circumstances is placed in a holding pattern, so was I. Come, journey with me and see and learn what the Lord taught me.

Life happens to our best-laid plans, but God orders our steps even when we seemingly are not moving. I was not between a rock and a hard place; I was in Gods holding pattern.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490895406

Dr. Herldleen Russell

Dr. Herldleen Russell, co-pastor of Ridgley Ministries Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is a speaker and teacher throughout the United States, and many foreign counries. She has a passion for showing God’s people, to not only know their freedon that is found in Jesus Christ but also know that they can live victoriously.as they walk with Him no matter what the problem. She host Men, Women and Youth Conferences, taking mission teams annually to build the body of Christ. She has established schools of ministry for pastors and leaders as well as building schools and Hope Centers (orphanages) for children in Uganda East Africa, where she is the Supervisor of the Dept of Women in the Uganda, East Africa Jurisdiction, Church of God in Christ (COGIC). She is also the founder and CEO of Dr. Herldleen Russell Ministries Her first book “Between a Rock and a Hard Place: God’s Holding Pattern has encouraged many to know the place God holds them while preparing them for their destiny. This is her second book.

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Copyright © 2015 Dr. Herldleen Russell.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-9541-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-9539-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-9540-6 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 08/26/2015

Contents

Acknowledgements

Dedication

Foreword

Chapter 1 How Did I Get Here

Chapter 2 Not a Rock and Hard Place: A Holding Pattern

Chapter 3 Frustrations in the Holding Pattern

Chapter 4 Where do I Go… when I can’t Move

Chapter 5 From The Place of Promise to Rest

Chapter 6 From Prediction to Prayer

Chapter 7 Completing Your Journey

Chapter 8 Sickness—A Seat in The Pattern None of Us Likes to Sit

Chapter 9 Promises In Perseverance

Chapter 10 Remembering Foundational Truths — Promises Made to Us

About the Author….

What People Are Saying About Between A Rock And A Hard Place…

Dr. Russell has penned a powerful and biblically based synopsis of how to navigate through God’s preparation process (Between a rock and a hard place) for your life. She brings clarity to the seasons of the journey and identifies roadblocks that hinder.

Dr. Barbara McCoo Lewis

Assistant General Supervisor- International Department of Women

Church of God in Christ, Inc.

Jurisdictional Supervisor- Southern California One

President/CEO Southern California COGIC

Economic Development Corp

President/Ceo Barbara McCoo Lewis Ministries

Dr. Russell is affectionately known to many as ‘Dr. Mom.’ After you read this book you will understand why. Her wisdom and counsel is excellent. Reading this book is like sitting down with ‘mom’ and talking about a personal problem, as only ‘mom’ can do, she provides the advice of a great sage. I was in a holding pattern in mid-2013 and I only wish this book would have been available then."

Dr. Mom, thank you for the honor of being asked to endorse this great book. May God bless it and use it to help his followers.

Ross Alan Hill,

Founder and CEO of Bank2, Oklahoma City, OK.

Dr. Herldleen Russell has written a wonderful book about what happens when we cease to be in control of our lives. Using the analogy of one who is stuck on an airline flight when that flight has been put in a holding pattern, she helps the reader reflect on what happens when our lives are in a holding pattern. She also helps the reader see holding patterns in our lives from a spiritual perspective. She postulates that when in the holding pattern, perhaps God has gone ahead of you and is preparing for your landing. She acknowledges the frustration of the loss of control, but encourages the reader to see the purpose of God for the holding pattern.

I, wholeheartedly, endorse Dr. Russell and the book that she has written. She is a gift to the body of Christ serving as Supervisor in the Church of God in Christ in both the Republic of Uganda and Greater Maryland First Jurisdictions. She has been creative in serving in the missions jurisdiction of the Republic of Uganda having taken on the hard tasks of educating pastors, planting schools, establishing orphanages, providing clean drinking water and evangelizing the lost. She has worked untiringly in Maryland supporting the approximately 50 local churches and leading women’s ministries. Having traveled the length and breadth of the United States and the continent of Africa, she understands what it means to be in a holding pattern. She also understands what it means to use that time to one’s best advantage.

Dr. Russell’s book would serve one well as devotional reading or as a gift to a friend who is Between a Rock and a Hard Place.

Superintendent Tony W. Torain, M.A., M.S.W., M.Div., J.D.

Pastor – The Good Shepherd Church of God In Christ, Baltimore

Former Associate Dean – University of Baltimore School of Law

Interim Dean – C.H. Mason Jurisdictional Institute – Greater Maryland First Jurisdiction

Herldleen Russell addresses clearly and concisely the critical questions often confronted by all individuals who seem to be at a standstill in reaching their goals in life. She compares the Holding Pattern maneuver of airplanes to the times in our lives when things are not moving in the direction we want to go. She uses scripture and experiences to give various strategies that will help one survive these seasons of inactivity.

Dr. Sheary D. Johnson,

Supervisor Virginia #4, Church Of God In Christ

Dr. Russell compels the reader to passionately but patiently seek God’s purpose and promises by choosing the PERFECT WILL journey. Your book was my best and favorite 2013 read. Yes, I introspectively and graciously read it personally to yield a different and better result in 2014 and beyond. This was a great and inspiring read for me. I loved and definitely related to your flight analogies. In the midst of all the turbulence, you still manage to land safely and orchestrate favorable conditions even for the Community Day. What is beautiful to watch is your execution and awareness of your own Godly strength.

This book will certainly help people to better understand what drives your heart especially those who do not know already.

Michelle Gross,

Director of Admissions,

Coppin State University

A most inspiring and impactful encouragement for all! While life is filled with meantimes and periods of the state of marking time, it is good to know that God’s intentions however remain sure. Easy is not the pathway to the destinies we are often prescribed in life, however we have the assurance that when our progress does not equate to the energy exerted in getting there, Heaven remains at work on our behalf and in our favor. Dr. Herldleen Russell echoes an insightful word for anyone that is twix and between the promise and the manifestation; the directive of God and the realization of it. An easy read, it addresses what the proper appropriation of the believer’s behavior must be when standing in a critical context just outside the place He has directed and is taking one to. I recommend this book to every individual who feels stagnated and stunted by the deterrents of their destiny.

Carl A. Pierce, Sr.

Senior Pastor, Carter Memorial Church Of God in Christ

Baltimore, Maryland

During a time in the world when the economy is unstable, people are losing their homes, the government is